Get On Up does two things magnificently well, and they’re related: It conveys the batshit craziness of both James Brown and Little Richard, which is quite a feat and aided in no small part from Chadwick Boseman as Brown and Brandon Mychal Smith as Richard. The two give performances so captivating that it’s worth seeing the film simply to indulge in their fascinating performances.

That Get On Up would be well acted is probably no surprise, but it is a surprise that they can almost carry the entire 138-minute film. Almost. And that the music is phenomenal shouldn’t be a surprise either. I’m not sure if Boseman performed all the songs, but I’m fairly certain he did his own dancing, and both are wisely indulgent, wisely for this film, which at least does know how to put on a show.

Director Tate Taylor (The Help) and writers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth nail many of the character moments, but never quite get around to understanding their subject. The first thirty minutes or so jumps back and forth through so many different periods that if there’s a linear story buried in there, I missed it. Even more, if there’s something that “made” Brown the man he became, the film doesn’t seem very interested in it, which would be fine, but it does need some kind of connecting thread to tie the movie together.

Why they didn’t go with the title jObs is anyone’s guess.

At the end of the film, we see a comparison between the actors and the people they played, none of whom are credited. And despite spending two hours with these fellows, there aren’t many you could name. Cliched as it is to say, but that’s a metaphor for the entire film — it’s so concerned with covering all the major events in the history of Apple Computers and simply the looks of its founders and key people that it misses the mark giving the viewer a sense of what made founder Steve Jobs tick.

Granted, the movie opens with a fantastic scene of Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) announcing the iPod. Kutcher’s inflection, body language, and script are dead-on as he builds the audience’s anticipation, teasing them with hints and pauses and mere suggestions — there’s a mix of delight and arrogance that’s electric. Even if you’ve never heard Jobs speak, the performance still conveys the feeling of being in the presence of a great man at the peak of his strengths

It’s too bad the film likewise peaks in this scene. We flash back to Jobs’ college years where we’re told he’s a renegade, a rebel, the guy who doesn’t wear shoes and drops acid and casually mentions to a fling that he has a girlfriend He takes a hit in a field with his girlfriend (Amanda Crew)  and after copious amounts of dancing, he lies back, restless. His girlfriend queries, “You’re thinking about your parents, aren’t you?” a tear rolls down Steve’s cheek, and the audience laughs.

If you get the clumsy baseball references in the title than you get that this weekend was won by 42. The Jackie Robinson biopic earned an estimated $27+ Million, giving the film one of the strongest baseball movie debuts of all time. The film took advantage of perfect timing and well delivered advertising to get out of the gate strong. Despite the impending the parade of competition, the new baseball season should continue to allow the film to stay relevant for a few more weeks than it really should.

Bombing into second place is Scary Movie 5 which managed to pull in $15 Million, and providing tangible proof that no one cares about the spoof franchise any more. If any one is a victor in this instance it would be the Wayne’s Brothers. They conjured up the franchise with the first brilliant film, but eventually parted ways by the third film. The brothers Waynes got back into the horror spoof game earlier this year with A Haunted House, which shines an even larger light on Scary Movie 5‘s failure.

Sticking in third place is the newest hit from Dreamworks, The Croods. Easing a very light 36%, the film brought in another $13 Million giving the film a total haul of nearly $150 million, which is huge for a new animated IP from a studio with a mixed track record. There still remains scant children entertainment competition in the upcoming Box Office calender, so the film should still perform well in the coming weeks.

Hitchcock is one of those handful of films that in any other year would be at the top of the heap for the award bait season we are about to head into. You have several high-profile actors in a biopic about one of the greatest directors of all time, and nearly everyone is playing someone else famous.

Yet with the huge number of “prestige” films hitting cinemas in the next four months, flicks like this one can get lost in the shuffle. Hoping to avoid that fate, the studio has released a brand new poster and trailer for Hitchcock and it is worth taking a look at. If only for seeing Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, who seems ridiculously perfect for the role.

On the other end of the spectrum is Anthony Hopkins as the titular director. As a still his look seems jarring and distracting, but it will be Hopkins acting that will be the pivot point for this film. If he is not fantastic in the part, the whole thing will probably fall on its face, but if he can nail it, Hitchcock could be a real contender for one of the best films of the year.

That is probably what makes this film so intriguing, even with the film so close to release it could still land anywhere between best picture or bomb of the year. Keep your eyes peeled to The Flickcast for any new updates on this fast approaching project and check out the trailer and full poster after the jump.

Every year there are certain cinematic trends. This can manifest in a couple different ways, one such way is the return to popularity of the Bow and Arrow this year. Another way this manifests is two movies with similar core concepts get released in close proximity.

Like Dante’s Peak & Volcano or Armageddon & Deep Impact, these cousin films share a lot in common on paper. 2012 looks like it might have finally found it’s pairing, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter & Lincoln.

Deadline is reporting that Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln biopic has finally set a release date, just in time for the award season push:

The Abraham Lincoln movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Honest Abe will get an exclusive release November 9, 2012, and expand wide November 16, Disney just announced

A relatively ballsy spot to place this movie on the calendar. A Spielberg biopic about Abe Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis could very well be a financial hit as well as a critical darling, but opening limited on the day Skyfall is released and wide the same day as Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 seems to really limit its potential audience.

It is true that the winter season is loaded with high-profile films, but this seems like a bad move on the part of Dreamworks. Unless of course all they care about is Oscar posturing. In that case this is a potential smart move to let this movie’s quality seem even greater by comparison of the big blockbusters it is up against.

In any event, we now know when Lincoln hits the screens in the states, and truthfully we here at The Flickcast are eager to see it.